N63A: Supernova Remnant in Visible and X-ray

What has this Supernova left behind?

As little as 2,000 years ago, light from a massive stellar explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) first reached planet Earth. The LMC is a close galactic neighbor of our Milky Way Galaxy and the rampaging explosion front is now seen moving out - destroying or displacing ambient gas clouds while leaving behind relatively dense knots of gas and Cosmic Dust.

What remains is one of the largest Supernova Remnants in the LMC: N63A. Many of the surviving dense knots have been themselves compressed and may further contract to form new Stars. Some of the resulting stars may then explode in a Supernova, continuing the cycle.

Featured here is a combined image of N63A in the X-ray from the Chandra Space Telescope and in visible light by Hubble Image. The prominent knot of gas and dust on the upper right — informally dubbed the Firefox — is very bright in visible light, while the larger Supernova Remnant shines most brightly in X-rays.

N63A spans over 25 light years and lies about 150,000 light years away toward the southern constellation of Dorado.